Two picnics

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netminder

Newbie
Original poster
Aug 24, 2015
6
10
Going to play with a couple of picnics tomorrow (yeah, I know it's a Monday, but I work at home so it's not a big deal). Both were about 9 lbs before my wife trimmed the skin off while I wasn't home, and she says she trimmed a lot of the fat off as well (don't hate me... we're still getting used to this whole business). So now I'm not sure exactly how much they weight.

So I figure that I should actually put them in tonight and let the smoker do its thing overnight, but that got me thinking. Would I be better off doing them one at a time? By my calculations, at nominally 15 lbs of meat, I'm looking at around 18 hours, give or take.

And is there anything I can do about the missing fat?
 
I don't thing you should worry. They have enough fat that it will be ok. I trim a lot from picnics when I do them personally. Also don't worry about weight to time estimate. They get done in their own time anyway. I pull at 202 internal Temp. Sometimes that's 1.5 hrs a pound others 1 hour a pound, and on tough days 2 hrs a pound!
 
I always trim the fat to allow the smoke to penetrate.  I'd do them both together, because I'm burning charcoal.  A 9lb but needs 18 hours to be on the safe side, so you may be done a little sooner, because its been trimmed.  A digital kitchen scale is a good investment so you can always reweigh cuts after trimming.
 
I'm still not sure whether she wants them for pulled or for sliced, but that part I can deal with (I do have a good thermometer). But even at an hour a pound, I'm looking at about 15 hours to do both at the same time (she did leave quite a bit of fat on, she says -- but this is my first stab at picnics, so what "quite a bit" means is anyone's guess), and probably more like 20 hours.

So the question is... is it wise to do both at once? Or better to do them one after the other? Or does it matter (except for the whole sun up and sun down thing)? Am I right in thinking that two 9 lb picnics will take as long to cook as one 18 lb picnic (which would be one big mofo pig...)?
 
More info would help us to help you 

Location

Smoker 

Temp you want to cook at

As for weight you can use a 1 gallon water bottle,it weighs 8.34 lbs. see how the meat feels ver the bottle.

Richie
 
Two separate pieces of meat will cook simultaneously, so two 9lb picnics at say 2 hours per # should be finished at roughly the same time ie. 18 hours.  No two pieces of meat are the same, and cooked side by side they will not finish at the same time necessarily.  Do you have a meat probe thermo for internal temps on your picnics.  Two hours per # is for pulled pork.
 
I'm still not sure whether she wants them for pulled or for sliced, but that part I can deal with (I do have a good thermometer). But even at an hour a pound, I'm looking at about 15 hours to do both at the same time (she did leave quite a bit of fat on, she says -- but this is my first stab at picnics, so what "quite a bit" means is anyone's guess), and probably more like 20 hours.

So the question is... is it wise to do both at once? Or better to do them one after the other? Or does it matter (except for the whole sun up and sun down thing)? Am I right in thinking that two 9 lb picnics will take as long to cook as one 18 lb picnic (which would be one big mofo pig...)?

Do both, Two will take about the same amount of time as one. It's not the total pounds that matter as much as thickness. The added mass will suck up more heat, but a good smoker will handle it.
 
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